ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Shares of ProKidney Corp. (NASDAQ:PROK - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $0.61, but opened at $1.27. ProKidney shares last traded at $1.97, with a volume of 193,636,007 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PROK. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ProKidney from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America lowered shares of ProKidney from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $3.00 to $1.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th.

ProKidney Stock Up 515.0%

The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $0.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of -6.22 and a beta of 1.26.

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $0.23 million for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ProKidney Corp. will post -0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital acquired 1,032,218 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $0.61 per share, with a total value of $629,652.98. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 72,592,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,281,318.25. This represents a 1.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have acquired 1,787,716 shares of company stock worth $1,175,419 over the last ninety days. 41.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ProKidney

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PROK. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ProKidney by 48.5% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 844,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 275,630 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ProKidney during the first quarter valued at $233,000. Bleichroeder LP boosted its stake in shares of ProKidney by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Bleichroeder LP now owns 2,000,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,380,000 after purchasing an additional 155,000 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ProKidney by 8.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 825,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 65,860 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of ProKidney in the fourth quarter valued at about $110,000. 51.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ProKidney Company Profile

ProKidney Corp., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, provides transformative proprietary cell therapy platform for treating various chronic kidney diseases in the United States. The company's lead product is Renal Autologous Cell Therapy (REACT), an autologous homologous cell admixture, which has completed Phase I clinical trial for REACT in patients with congenital anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract (CAKUT), as well as in Phase III and Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of moderate to severe diabetic kidney disease.